Three hot spots in the great battle between Arsenal and Man Utd

Last season, coach Mikel Arteta created a tactical revolution at Arsenal when he used Oleksandr Zinchenko as a left full-back who often stuck in the middle to improve ball control and distribution.

This season, when Zinchenko was injured, rookie Jurrien Timber played a role on the left wing and performed well in the English Super Cup victory over Man City, although he had never played a left-back at Ajax or the Netherlands. But Timber injured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the opening match of the Premier League and the possibility of rest for the season.

Except for the English Super Cup match, where he played as a midfielder, Partey was pulled back to play right back in all three rounds of the Premier League. At that time, Ben White was pushed into the central defense partnership with William Saliba, and rookie Kai Havertz played in midfield with captain Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice.

Similar to Zinchenko last season, Partey often moved up to play in central midfield with Rice whenever Arsenal controlled the ball, with Havertz pushed further forward. Arteta wants to build a 3-2 defense system when the "Gunners" control the ball, with the central midfield duo Partey - Rice in front of three defenders.

This staffing arrangement has two clear purposes. First, it is safer to defend when the opponent wins the ball back and tries to counterattack. Second, the 3-2 defense system is very difficult to effectively close if the opponent does not push the formation. If the opponent sits deep, Arsenal will be able to dominate possession and thereby distribute it to attacking positions.

Partey's move into midfield also allows Rice to function widely as a box-to-box midfielder, something he does well at West Ham, and gives Arsenal more attacking options.

These experiments were not effective as Arsenal got off to an unimpressive start, defeating Nottingham 2-1, Crystal Palace 1-0 and drawing 2-2 at home with Fulham despite being outmatched.

Zinchenko is back, coming on in the final minutes of the matches against Crystal Palace and Fulham. At the Emirates today, Arteta will have to decide whether to continue using Partey at right-back, or return him to his forte midfield position with Zinchenko starting on the left flank. This decision will directly affect Arsenal's playing style.

But while the teams all prioritize securing the midfield to prevent counterattacks and dominate the ball, Arsenal may not focus on the midfield when playing Man Utd.

Arteta may still deploy a 3-2 defensive block. It is more likely that Rice distributes the ball to the two sides, instead of developing into the midfield.

This will be Arteta's very deliberate strategy to launch a narrow attack to stretch Man Utd's defensive block from the middle to then quickly attack into wide areas where the players attack. There will be plenty of space.

Besides the ability to intercept, Rice can also distribute and dribble the ball. Therefore, the English midfielder can play more freely against Man Utd, dropping back on the field to receive the ball or moving higher to connect with attacking players or even finish from afar.

Even though playing away from home, Man Utd will likely press high with the entire midfield. Then, the movement and positioning of Rice will be key in receiving, deploying and distributing the ball to the positions of Gabriel Martinelli, Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka or Kai Havertz.

Arsenal is very strong in right-side attacks. With Rice able to control the center and Partey's support as analyzed above, Odegaard and Saka will find a way to combine to push the ball to this wing. This is also the position that Man Utd faces difficulty in. When Luke Shaw was injured, Diogo Dalot did not leave much of an impression against Nottingham Forest. Man Utd can also use Sergio Reguilon - who was just loaned from Tottenham.

Controlling the central area will be a key tactical battle at Emirates Stadium today. Arsenal have flexible options to do this and they have the ability to adjust their approach depending on their opponents' style of play.

The question is whether Man Utd has the ability to control and dominate this area with the current midfield personnel. With rookie Mason Mount injured and Sofyan Amrabat unable to register, Christian Eriksen will likely combine with Casemiro and captain Bruno Fernandes.

Casemiro is usually the deepest midfielder and Fernandes plays highest, linking the midfield and attack, while Mount or Eriksen are allowed to play more freely.

In all three matches of the season, Man Utd's midfield - including Casemiro - often pushed into extremely high positions. This way of playing is only effective if the "Red Devils" stop the opponent and successfully steal the first pressing line.

If they continue to use midfield in such an aggressive way today, Man Utd's defense will reveal a lot of space before Arsenal's fast and sharp attacking stars.

Man Utd is forced to push high to prevent Arsenal from dominating possession, but must do so in a more cohesive and synchronized way. If the midfield rises high, the defense and full-backs must be in a position to cover and cover if Arsenal successfully escapes pressing. If the overall squad structure does not support a high rise, just one pass can make Man Utd's defense struggle to fend off the home team's counterattacks.